Rail attachment



H. O. MEIER RAIL ATTACHMENT Feb. 18, 1969 Sheet Filed Nov. 16, 1966 Inventor Tier-mam; Oskar Meier 3 M Feb. 18, 1969 H. o. MEIER I 3,

' RAIL ATTACHMENT Sheet Filed Nov. 16, 1966 HIT Inventor fiermann" OS-kar Meier 5 .Prr m af H. O. MEIER RAIL ATTACHMENT Feb 18; 1.969

Sheet 3 of Filed Nov 16, 1,966

' Fig.9

Inventor Hermann. Oskar Meier 55/,

United States Patent 3,428,253 RAIL ATTACHMENT Hermann Oskar Meier, Munich, Germany, assignor of onefourth each to Helen Joan Mary Meier, Eva Marianne Meier, Wolfgang Alexander Meier and Manfred Julian Meier, all of Munich, Germany, heirs of said Hermann Oskar Meier, deceased Filed Nov. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 594,736 Claims priority, applicatizn Germany, Nov. 25, 1965,

US. Cl. 238--349 16 Claims Int. Cl. E01b 9/00, 13/00, 21/04 ABSTRACT on THE DISCLOSURE A rail fastening attachment for fastening rails on concrete ties and the like employing an angular depression having a straight wall portion for accommodating a base plate which contacts the rail laterally and a clamp member which is secured on the base plate and also contacts a lateral flange of the rail. l

The present invention relates to a rail fastening arrangement particularly for fastening .rails on concrete ties without a support plate. More particularly the present invention relates to an arrangement for fastening rails on concrete ties or the like in which guide plates are fastened into the unreinforced concrete-slab surface by means of bolts which are anchored into the concrete body and which press the rail onto the tie.

Constructions with lateral guide plates are well known in the art. Their purpose is in general to accomplish a reduction in the cost of construction as compared with under plate construction, such as for example, rib plates. Up to now, however, such constructions did not gain acceptance.

The guide plates, in the tie constructions previously described, permit rapid and exact mounting of the rail.

They must, however, be capable of absorbing relatively complete concrete tie Width to be used for the support of the' rails. Accordingly, the required impact, elastic intermediate member under the rail such as for example a rubber plate, may be made larger. This particular feature is of extreme importance. The impact of out of round wheels upon the hard rails requires, particularly in the winter time, very effective shock absorption.

The conventional constructions employing guide plates have not been satisfactory from a technical or mechanical respect or they have not afforded a reduction of construction costs. In some instances they suffered from both disadvantages.

If a plane guide plate is pressed solely with screw pressure either directly or indirectly on a tie surface, then only the friction between the guideplate and the tie surface resists the lateral force of the rail. This frictional resistance, is however, not very large, particularly in an inexpensive construction. Such constructions are dependent upon the screw force and this screw force may not exceed a limit determined by the carrying or bearing capacity of the dowel pin and clamping piece. It is unavoidable that the functional resistance gradually decreases and finally disappears completely. This particularly occurs when the bolt becomes loose because of the possible to support the guide plate through the unreinforced concrete body, but the concrete may be cracked easily and thus the support area will be sheared or broken off. This occurs particularly when due to a loose connection in the fastening mechanism, the entire lateral force is applied directly against the concrete. An improvement is not effected even if the guide plate is mounted upon a slightly inclined or slightly outwardly rising curved surface. A noticeable improvement is accomplished through an arrangement at higher cost, namely, if a bolt is unyieldingly anchored into the concrete body. The magnitude of the screw thrust and accordingly the frictional force, will then be determined by the tensioning means but such is limited and often insuflicient for many practical purposes. A well known approach for eliminating these disadvantages, resides in an arrangement wherein the upper portion of the fixedly anchored bolt, which traverses the guide plate, is provided with a long thread and two separate nuts. The lower nut tightens the guide plate directly with a very high degree of tension. The upper nut, on the other hand, exerts only a slight force upon a clamp plate. This type of attachment, of course, is more expensive because of the high cost of the parts and also poses new problems, because it requires meticulous care of the thread portions. A further problem which arises is in determining whether the lower nut is safe, as forces are constantly exerted over long periods of time. If no suitable means are provided for retaining and maintaining the tension between the anchorage and the lower nut, even a small grain of sand, which might come to be on the relatively rough surface, will be sufficient to cause a substantial loss in the tensioning force. Because the tightening of the lower nut is very complicated it is often neglected.

Reference should also be made to the fact that large lateral forces are absorbed effectively by plane or substantially plane guide plates, only if the concrete bodies are provided with reinforcement on their surface as for example by an angle iron or a brace of substantial size which has been embedded into the said concrete body and by which the guide plate is supported. This, however, requires substantial expense. Furthermore the reinforcement is not easily replaced and subject to slow deterioration through corrosion and wear. If a guide plate is employed which has an angular shape, the lateral portion openly disposed upon the tie with one leg on the tie surface and the other leg inserted deeply in the tie body, then the side force is easily transmitted without requiring reinforcement of the tie surf-ace. However, this type of construction causes a substantial weakening of the transversestrength of such concrete ties. If the deeply inserted leg is adhered by an adhesive to the concrete body then the weakening effect on the fiexural rigidity of the tie described above will be eliminated or diminished and the transmission of lateral forces will be satisfactory. However, the use of an adhesive is costly and as it is necessary to replace the guide plates within certain time intervals, a new problem also arises as the exchange of the glued guide plates is very complicated.

Compared to the above described state of the art, the present invention has for its purpose to provide a fastening arrangement for rails of the type initially described which can easily be installed and easily be removed; which is economical to produce and maintain; which is dependable and will maintain the required tension and will completely resist both the side forces and the rotational forces imposed upon it.

This purpose is accomplished in accordance with the present invention through an arrangement in which the bolt for exerting pressure on the guide plate is mounted above a clamp member. The guide plate itself is fitted to the tie and seated in such manner as to obtain substantially high resistance to lateral movement and rotation. For this purpose the guide plate in accordance with this invention, is so shaped that its cross-section when viewed at a right angle to the rail, will display an angular partially angular profile which projects upwardly displaying a substantial angle of inclination on each of its sides or the plate may be provided on its base with ribs which run parallel to the axis of the tie and which, if desired, may be angled.

The purpose of this construction, of course, is to divert all lateral forces that may arise, by means of a dependable and constant screw thrust effect, so that the resultant force is directed against the interior of the concrete body at a very inclined angle. If the guide plate is shaped in such a manner that the resultant force will be at right angles to the horizontal and act upon a substantially large transmission area, then large lateral forces may be absorbed without danger of damage by an unreinforced concrete body. The desired effect can be improved by a construction in which the tie bolts are arranged at an angle. In this manner one provides an inward bias to the entire fastening mechanism which directs itself inward towards the rails.

The guide plates are prefera ly made from rolled steel sections. Of course, it is possible to produce such guide plates from steel forgings or castings and even from plastic materials.

For tie bolts an embedded bolt or the well known hammer head bolt for which secure anchoring is provided at or in the tie structure. The hammer head bolt is inserted from above with its head in the tie body and secured in the interior of a perforated plate embedded in concrete. In this anchorage the bolt is orientable in the tie axis. This makes possible the release of the bolt shanks from bending stress and shearing strain.

If a flexible clamping member is employed a further advantage exists through the limiting of the spring deflection of the clamping members by means of a stop on the guide plate. The advantages of this arrangement are that an easy and simple handling of the unit in actual practice is assured, eliminating the danger that the clamp plate may be deformed by careless over tightening of the nut and the provision of a substantial high amount of screw thrust is obtained which exceeds the force required to depress the clamp plate into its ultimate position. This excess tension, however, does not harm the clamp plate and is fully utilized to position the guide plate. The tightening of the screw is a very simple operation in this type of an arrangement.

To transmit the bolt force from the nut, onto the clamp member, the clamp member is preferably designed in such manner that it is arched or alternatively curved and positioned under the nut.

In many instances it may be desirable to design the guide plate and the fastening arrangement in such manner that flexible clamp plates and rigid clamp plates are interchangeable and held by resilient spring washers. This arrangement allows the use of the less expensive rigid clamp plates as fastening means on straight track, in which a relatively limited lateral force effect is encountered. In areas where there are curved track, however, the flexible clamps will be employed which furnish a substantially greater screw thrust which is of importance because of the larger lateral forces and the greater deflection caused by elastic deformation of the intermediate member located on the tracl; below the rails. In such instances a shorter bolt may be used instead of the usual longer bolt.

Several embodiments illustrating the attachment of rails, in accordance with the present invention, are shown in the drawings wherein FIGURES 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 are vertical sectional views and FIGURES 2, 4, 6, 8, l and 12 are respective top views.

Accordingly, in FIGURES 1 and 2 the rail attachment is accomplished by means of a partially angular guide plate, a rigid clampplate and a resilient washer.

FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate an arrangement in which the clamp plate is flexible and a washer is employed.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate a rail attaching arrangement with a ribbed guide plate, a flexible clamp plate ing an S-shaped resilient clamp plate and a hollow troughshaped guide piece.

FIGURES l1 and 12 illustrate an arrangement similar to the one shown in FIGURES 9 and 10 in which a trough-shaped hollow guide plate is employed in combination with an angular or inclined bolt.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that a rail 1 is positioned upon and rests on a cement tie 2. Between the rail and the tie an elastic intermediate member 3 is disposed which extends under the entire width of the rail over the tie. The partially angular guide plate 4, preferably formed from rolled metal, lies parallel to the rail and it is fastened to the tie by means of bolt 5 and rigid clamp plate 6, the outer shoe or portion 7 of the clamp plate 6 pressing into the upper groove 8 of the guide plate 4 and the inner shoe or portion 9 pressing onto the base of the rail. To secure and maintain the desired tension, a highly resilient spring washer 11 is provided under nut 10; The described manner of positioning prevents the rotation or shifting of the guide plate 4 which is aided by angular portions 12 and 13 on opposing sides. The guide plate is accommodated in the concrete tie surface in depression 12a in a relatively shallow manner to prevent a weakening of the tie but at a depth sufficient to furnish substantial resistance to rotation.

The outer substantially angular portion 14 of the guide plate is positioned against a small abutment 15 in the concrete tie. The desired degree of inclination of portion 14 as well as the adjacent wall section of depression 12a is such that an angle of at least ninety degrees is formed with portion 13 and its adjacent wall section. 1

Instead of the rigid clamp plate, one may substitute in accordance with FIGURES 3 and 4 the W-shaped bent rod, which serves as a flexible clamp plate 16. In this arrangement the nut is suitably provided with a washer 17 below the nut. Legs 18 of rod 16 press againstthe rail base and intermediate loop 19 partially circumscribes the shaft of the bolt. Loop portions 20 are drawn somewhat downwardly and are accommodated on the upper groove in theguide plate 4. This prevents turning or shifting of the clamp plate. The intermediate loop 19 curved or bent as shown at 21 causes the screw thrust to be centered. The ties and the lateral guide plates are identical for the constructions of FIGURES 1 and 3 so that their interchangeability is assured.

Two further examples are shown in FIGURES 5-8. In this case the ribbed guide plate 22 is a rolled, cast metal piece positioned at right angles to the rail which can be easily produced. It carries on its lower portion ribs 23 which are parallel to the axis of the tie. These ribs prevent turning and shifting and they fit into corresponding narrow slots 23a in the tie surface and reduce the flexibility of the tie only slightly. The outer portions 24 of the ribs are angled in such a manner that resultant forces are introduced into the concrete body at a particularly desirable angle.

In this connection the-re is interchangeable with resilient clamp plate 25 in combination with a bushing 26, the W-shaped, bent rod-like resilient clamp member 27 as particularly described in FIGURE 7. To assure against turning or shifting of the clamp member 25 or 27 a ridge 28 is provided on the upper surface of the guide plate. The shape of the W-shaped clamp member 27 corresponds to the constructions illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, however, this piece is not as severely angled. The ties and lateral guide plates in these particular constructions are the same, so that there is the possibility of component exchangeability.

FIIGURES 9-12 conclude the embodiments with S- shaped resilient clamps 32 and 47. An arrangement is shown in which the tie surface has been provided with shallow depression 29 and the correspondingly shaped guide member 30 is inserted therein. An upwardly turned edge 31 of the member serves as guide for the rail. Onto this plate with its depression there is inserted a rolled three-way flexible S shaped clamp 32 which has three contact and pressure spots 33, 34 and 35. Chambers are formed in clamp '32 with flexible portions for contacting the trail base and the guide member 30. Nut 36 can be tightened until the vertical portion 37 of clamp 32 is tightly pressed against the guide plate. In this manner a substantial amount of spring tension is obtained which is greater than could otherwise be achieved. To secure this arrangement against turning the two projecting lugs 38 are provided along the lateral edges of the guide plate. In FIGURES 11 and 12 an arrangement is shown in which a concave guide plate is employed which is sub stantially L-shaped having a slightly smoothed-out cast profile 39 and is in depression 3911 so as to be contiguous therewith. The tie bolt 40 is angled and inclined in such manner and preferably at an angle of greater than ninety degrees with respect to the vertical axis of the rail, to provide for effective biasing of the entire construction whereby the tensioning forces are directed inwardly against the rail. The S-shaped clamp 41 is also provided with three definite pressure points 42, 43 and 44. The weakening effect of the hole within the spring plate of clamp 41 is counteracted by a second spring plate 45 and this also increases and reinforces the resiliency of the center portion of the clamp. This second spring plate has a bent portion 46 which fits into the clamp plate. Its upper end 47 is bent over clamp 41 and plate 39 so that any rotational and shifting movement of the arnangement is eliminated. Below the nut 48 is a smooth washer 49 with a rounded contacting portion which fits the shape of spring plate 45. In this manner the forces, which are exerted, will be distributed evenly over the entire area of the spring and this assures that the forces are directed along the screw axis. The arrangement also provides for a small abutment 50 in the surface of the tie in a manner that the grooves in the tie surface will not too deeply penetrate the tie body and thereby reduce its carrying strength.

This invention may be practiced in any of numerous ways which will be suggested by this disclosure to one skilled in the art by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed or equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A rail attachment for concrete ties and the like comprising a substantially angular depression having at least one substantially straight wall portion in the upper surface of said tie, a plate member positioned in and adapted to conform substantially to said depression and provide a lateral abutment surface for said rail, a clamp member including a flexible slightly curved rod with at least two extending portions adapted to engage each said plate member and said rail and means secured to said tie and extending through both said plate and clamp member to urge said clamp member against said plate member and against said rail.

2. A rail attachment for concrete ties and the like comprising a substantially angular L-shaped depression having at least one substantially straight wall portion in the upper surface of said tie, a substantially L-shaped plate member positioned in and adapted to conform substantially to said depression and provide a lateral abutment surface for said rail, a substantially S-shaped clamp member providing two contact points on said plate member and one contact point on said rail and means secured to said tie and extending through both said plate and clamp member to urge said clamp member against said plate member and against said rail.

'3. The rail attachment as defined in claim 2 further including a spring plate overlying said clamp member and having an end portion disposed over an end of said clamp member and said plate member.

4. The rail attachment as defined in claim 2 wherein said securing means is disposed with its axis at an angle of greater than ninety degrees with respect to the vertical axis of said rail.

5. A rail attachment for concrete ties and the like for supporting rails comprising at least one narrow slot in the upper surface of said tie disposed with the longitudinal axis substantially transverse to said rail, a plate member having a rib adapted to :fit in said slot and providing a lateral abutment surface for said rail, a clamp member adapted to engage said plate member and an adjacent portion of said rail and means secured to said tie and extending through both said plate and clamp members to urge said clamp member against said plate member and against said rail.

6. The rail attachment as defined in claim 5 wherein said clamp member comprises a flexible slightly curved rod with at least two extending portions adaptedto engage each said plate member and said rail.

7. The rail attachment as defined in claim 5 wherein said clamp member comprises a first flexible portion for engagement with said rail and a second flexible portion for engagement with said securing means.

'8. The rail attachment as defined in claim 7 wherein said plate member further includes laterally disposed lugs on the upper surface.

9. The rail attachment as defined in claim 5- wherein said clamp member comprises a flexible portion for engagement with said rail and a concave portion for engagement with said securing means.

:10. The rail attachment as defined in claim 5- wherein said plate member is provided with a flat upper surface with a ridge on said upper surface and disposed substantially parallel with said abutment surface.

11. The nail attachment as defined in claim 5 wherein said clamp member is of a flexible construction.

12. A rail attachment for concrete ties and the like comprising a substantially angular depression including two wall portions each extending divergently upward from the lowest point of said depression to the upper surface of said tie with one said wall portion disposed adjacent said rail and the other diverging therefrom, a plate member including two wall portions adapted to conform substantially to said depression, said plate member providing a lateral abutment surface for said rail, a clamp member adapted to engage said plate member at the area of divergence of the wall portions of said plate member, and means extending through both said plate and clamp member and secured to said tie to urge said clamp member against said plate member and said rail.

13. The rail attachment as defined in claim 12 wherein said depression is substantially trough-shaped in crosssection with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel with said rail and said plate member is constructed and arranged to fit therein.

14. The rail [attachment as defined in claim 13 wherein said trough-shaped depression is comprised of two wall sections the axis of which join at an angle of at least ninety degrees.

15. The rail attachment as defined in claim 12 wherein References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,587,471 6/1926 Caples 238-288 Sonneville 23 8-349 Snyder 23 8349 Sonneville 23 8349 Baker 23 8351 Burwell 238349 DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

